Selective dorsal rhizotomy in children: comparison of outcomes after single-level versus multi-level laminectomy technique.

Children with cerebral palsy may experience spasticity, which may negatively impact their quality of life. One proven treatment for such spasticity is selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), whereby a partial sectioning of the dorsal roots from L2 to S1 is performed. SDR can be performed where the nerve root exits the intervertebral foramina via multi-level laminectomies, or at the level of the conus via a single-level laminectomy. At British Columbia Children's Hospital (BCCH), SDRs were performed via multi-level laminectomies until 2005, when the single-level technique was adopted. The single-level procedure is technically more challenging and takes longer, but requires a smaller incision and involves less muscle dissection. Functional outcomes at one-year follow-up are similar for the two methods of surgery. It was hypothesized that post-operative pain would be less, mobilization faster and hospital stay shorter using the single-level technique. Using a retrospective case series analysis, we compared nine patients who had had single-level SDR to 18 matched controls who had undergone SDR using the multi-level technique. There were no significant differences in post-operative pain, duration of opioid infusion, or time to mobilization. Length of hospital stay was significantly decreased after the single level procedure: 3.4 versus 5.2 days (p = 0.01).